Two Palestinian Teenagers Killed Near West Bank Settlement, Bodies Withheld by Israeli Authorities

Two Palestinian Teenagers Killed Near West Bank Settlement, Bodies Withheld by Israeli Authorities

Two Palestinian teenagers were killed near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, with Palestinian officials reporting that Israeli authorities are continuing to hold their bodies.

According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, the deceased were identified as Reda Sami Awad, 15, and Arafat Ismail Awad, 19.

The Israel Defense Forces said the incident occurred late Sunday during what it described as a counter-terrorism operation. Military officials stated that soldiers opened fire on a group allegedly burning tires and throwing Molotov cocktails toward a nearby Israeli settlement. According to the military, two individuals were killed and a third person was “neutralized.”

Palestinian sources said Israeli forces are withholding the bodies of the two victims, a practice that has been the subject of longstanding controversy and legal disputes.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions across the West Bank, where violence has intensified significantly since the outbreak of the Gaza war following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel.

The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967 and is home to approximately three million Palestinians alongside more than 500,000 Israeli settlers, excluding East Jerusalem. The United Nations has recently warned of record levels of settler-related violence against Palestinians.

The deaths of the two teenagers are under the broader backdrop of ongoing unrest and military operations that have resulted in significant casualties among both Palestinians and Israelis since the conflict escalated.